Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
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(On what he’s learned about Dustin Keller, Brandon Gibson and Mike Wallace so far) – “Yeah you know we’re still learning, but I’m excited about what I see from those guys. They’re all getting a grasp on the offense and we’re starting to get a lot of reps with each other, so (we’re going to) continue to work that to get better. I’m excited about what they bring to the team and what they showed today.”
(On how he felt today) – “I felt good. You know I was excited to get back out there. It’s been a long time since the last game of the year and I think everyone is excited to get back out there. Like I said earlier, we have a lot of room to improve, but I felt great out there and it felt great just to be with the guys.”
(On how much competition he thinks there will be on the offense for playing time) – “I think that’s one of Coach Philbin’s big things is competition. He always wants to be pushing the starters. You’re never comfortable. When you get comfortable you get complacent and you don’t get better. You always want to bring in good competition for your team and have a high level of competition at every position, that way everyone gets better.”
(On how different things are for him this year compared to last year at this time) – “Last year at this time my head was spinning. I was just trying to figure out how things worked. I didn’t really know how the day went, how the offseason went, how practices went. So being in it a year, I am completely comfortable. Now I can go out and focus on all the little things that go into the game.”
(On Jonathan Martin’s physical growth and move back to left tackle) – “Yeah he looks good. I think he’s getting back to what he played in college and he’s comfortable there. He got to finish out the year there, and now he’s been working all offseason on that side, so I’m comfortable with him there and I think he’s comfortable as well.”
(On one thing that has surprised him thus far) – “Oh man. I can’t say one thing has surprised me. You know, I’m excited about what everyone brought to the table today. You don’t really know what to expect going into the first real practice against the defense. It was kind of hot early; everyone was gassed a little bit, but guys were pushing through and wanting to get better.”
Tight End Dustin Keller
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(On how much different this system is from his past systems) – “It’s fairly different, fairly different. I think pretty much everything in the NFL is all related, but you have different terminology and just different ways of running these rthings. All in all, it’s fairly similar.”
(On how long it will take him to get up to speed on the new offense) – “I feel good about it right now, but I think it’s going to take me a couple weeks to get a good feel for all of this.”
(On how excited he is for the new season after injuries last season and being a part of the media circus in New York) – “I’m very excited. (It’s) kind of a new chance to re-establish myself. I missed half the season last year, so just to get hopefully a full season under my belt, healthy and do whatever I can to help this team win.”
(On his health) – “It’s good. I feel great. I felt really good out there. The thing that was hurting the most out there today was my wind, so I’ve got to get that right. I forgot about this Miami heat.”
(On his first impressions about what Ryan Tannehill does well) – “You would think that a guy who used to play wide receiver, the thing he would do best was run the ball, which he does well, but he puts the ball right on the money and he is a good decisions maker as well.”
(On whether he feels like he has something to prove this season) – “I think so, I think so. Just coming off last year, it was kind of a year where everybody didn’t see much from me. It was an injury plagued year. More than anything I just want to show that I was the right guy for the job when they brought me in here.”
(On whether he has been told if he is the starting tight end or if he will face competition) – “I think today is more of an evaluation. Today and OTAs and mini-camp are more of an evaluation period so they can get a feel for what they have. Once they get all the information then they start to put the plan together.”
(On the reports that he wanted a one year contract as opposed to a longer term deal) – “Honestly just because I think with an injury plagued year, my worth wasn’t where I think it was at. I took a gamble on myself and said that I am better than everyone thinks I am. This is definitely where I want to be long-term, but I just want to prove to them that I am better than last year.”
Wide Receiver Mike Wallace
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(On experiencing his first rain storm at practice) – “Yeah I forgot about that part when I came here, but it’s all a part of it so it’s fine.”
(On whether he has learned about the new group of receivers since he’s been here, specifically Dustin Keller and Brandon Gibson) – “I learned about those two guys that they look a lot better on the field than in off-season drills. They looked a little slow out there but then they get on the field and they’re a lot faster on the field than in workouts.”
(On whether he thinks he and Ryan Tannehill will need an adjustment period) – “We’ll be fine. It was the first day that we ever went at it with guys defending us. It’s always going to take a little time just being on the field running routes, but by the end of OTAs we’ll be fine.”
(On the capability of the offense) – “We can do anything, anything you go out there and work for. Everybody is going to work hard and come to work every day, and as long as we keep going in that direction, the sky is the limit.”
(On how the fast pace of the offense will be helpful)- “Oh it will be helpful for us. Once I get used to it, I thought I was in pretty good shape before today. It is really different just going out there and not really getting a break. It’s so up tempo and so fast paced, you just have to get used to it, be able to catch your breath and stay locked in because when you get fatigued things happen sometimes. You’ve just got to get in good football shape, even better football shape than I was before.”
(On what this group needs to do to make it a winning team) – “We just have to stay hungry like we are. I feel like every day, everybody comes in with a great attitude and really works. We’re a young team, so that’s all we know. Everybody has the college mentality around here, so it’s a lot different coming from where I come from with the older guys. I think everybody is hungry, everybody wants to get better, and everybody wants to be what we need to be to have a winning record.”
(On what it was like for him going up against Brent Grimes) – “It was cool, man. I like Brent. I liked him as a player before I ever got here. It’s a little different going (against) a guy so short. One time Hartline thought he was falling down but he was actually just back peddling, so he’s just short. But it’s cool though, he’s one of the most athletics guys I’ve ever seen. He can jump, he can run, he can do it all. He plays a lot bigger than his height.”
Wide Receiver Brian Hartline
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(On how Ryan Tannehill looked) – “I thought he looked pretty good. You guys were probably watching him more than I was. I was just trying to survive. But, it was a good first step. It was a good first day. I’m not going to lie, you do a lot of things on your own to get yourself prepared, but it’s never like actually preparing for football. It was a good first step, it needed to be done, and I look forward to tomorrow.”
(On whether he will take a larger role in the punt return game this season) – “Possibly. In what situations I couldn’t tell you, but they made it a point to tell me to go back there and catch punts every day, so.”
(On whether he caught punts at Ohio State) – “I did. Longest return in OSU history.”
(On how the communication is with the new receivers) – “It’s good. He’s obviously a ways under construction, but they want to work hard, so it’s an easy fit. Brandon (Gibson) is doing a great job, Mike (Wallace) as well. The young guys are stepping up, and asking questions of Rishard (Matthews) and Armon (Binns) and (Jeff) Fuller, so we are definitely making the right steps, we definitely have the right guys in the room. Now it’s just about putting in the work over a period of time.”
(On the competitions at the wide receiver position) – “It’s great. I mean I’ve always kind of said it’s a passing league, you have to run the football but you have to be very faceted, but you have to be able to throw the football and do it effectively. Have depth have guys that can do many different things brings a lot to the table.”
Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe
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(On what he can tell about this defense from the workouts and this practice) – “We’ve got a lot of guys out here that work out hard. They’re dedicated and they want to win.”
(On how long he thinks it will take for the defense to come together) – “I mean we should be relatively smooth by training camp. That’s why we go and do these OTAs and training camp and things like that. I’d say by the season everything should be fine and everything should be smooth too.”
(On the biggest challenge of working with new teammates) – “It’s always communication because you’ve got guys coming in who didn’t play this defense last year, and all the communication and all the terminology is different. So, it’s a matter of how quick guys can catch on and just fill in.”
(On how this defense compares to what they ran in Baltimore) – “I mean it’s a totally different defense because it’s a 4-3 (scheme) here and a 3-4 there, but for the most part I played this in college so I should be alright.”
(On the transition into this new defense) – “It’s been a great situation for me just coming in here and showing what I can do, showing that I grasp a hold of this defense. It has a lot of key components to it that I’m fairly familiar with, so it shouldn’t be hard. I feel like be training camp I’ll have everything down like I did in Baltimore.”
(On what parts of the defense make him feel like the unit will be good this year) – “It’s just the fun we have on defense. How the guys attack the day, how hard they work out and how hard they train, and just showing that they want to win. Speed too. This is the youngest defense I have ever been a part of.”
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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